


Lifesaver

by LunaMemoria



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien’s got a broken arm, Agreste twins caring for each other, Anxious Thoughts, Casual mention of Bridgette and Kagami and the other Quantics, Gen, Injury, Plagg is here for like two lines, Siblings being cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-22
Updated: 2020-01-22
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:08:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22360018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunaMemoria/pseuds/LunaMemoria
Summary: Life is hard when you have a superhero for a sibling.Luckily, Felix is good at adapting (he pretends to be, anyway).
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Félix
Comments: 2
Kudos: 81





	Lifesaver

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally going to be my secret santa fic for the PV present exchange event, but then it was turning out way longer than it should be and I already got about 2.5k words before Bridgette even showed up, which... well. Idk if I’ll ever get to writing the next part, if there’ll even be one it’ll be LadyNoir friendship probably, but for now please have this fic of good ol’ Agreste brothers. Hope you enjoy!

..

Felix paces the hallways, his arms wrapped around his chest as he waits for the incoming call hopefully in a few minutes.

Here's the thing: Felix has a twin brother, a twin brother who is supposed to be at fencing practice now. Key word:  _ supposed. _ However, said brother is also, in fact, a superhero granted the power of destruction and bad luck by a millennial old god who likes eating cheese. A superhero who, according to the news, might have gotten seriously injured half an hour ago. Felix has been calling him for the past few minutes but to no avail, leaving him standing alone in the locker room, stuck here in his brother's fencing uniform. He's not the best fencer, not in the way Adrien is, but they've done enough secret lessons for him to be able to at least pass as Adrien (ability-wise, because it's hard being like Adrien personality-wise. He just avoids any conversation if possible and blames it on lack of sleep or something. Curse his brother for being such a talkative person). All of that is at least enough to fool Adrien's classmates.

"Adrien?"

Well, he  _ hoped _ . There are some sharp people who might be able to tell, and although he doesn't think they might sell him out, he doesn't really need any extra eyes on him, or ask him any questions he's unable to answer.

"Yeah?" he calls out, already shoving the protective facemask back on and slipping his phone back into his- Adrien's bag.

"Are you okay in there?" asks a voice from the other side of the door. It’s Kagami. One of the many things Felix appreciates about her is how she respects Adrien's personal space, which honestly makes things  _ so much easier _ for him. She'd asked him to spar with her earlier and he did - it's not the first time he did this but his nerves still wrack the way they did during the first time and every time after that. He can never shake the faint feeling that she somehow  _ knows, _ but she never says anything. Just gives him odd looks when she thinks he's not looking. He very much wishes he could just avoid interaction with her, but that would be out of character for Adrien, who apparently enjoys spending the whole damn lesson sparring against her, which is just… great. At least he gets a glimpse of what kind of person his brother hangs out with outside of school and him and, well, others. And honestly speaking, aside from all the suspicious looks, she is pretty nice to hang around. Not that he had someone else to compare the experience to, as someone who doesn’t really have friends.

"Yeah. I'll be out in a minute."

"Okay," she says, the barest hint of question in her calm tone. Her footsteps get softer and further away. She might know or she might not. Either way she's not digging into this issue, which is nice.

"Oh man, that was close," says someone from behind him. 

"Not really, no-" Felix says before coming to a pause mid sentence, going  _ shit shit shit  _ for a second before turning to face the newcomer. He lets out a sigh of relief. 

There stands Adrien, dressed in Felix's dress shirt, shoulders slumped, hair messy in a way that resembles his bad hair mornings and a sheepish half-grin on his face. But what draws Felix's attention is his arm, how it's bent in funny and unnatural way. He gapes at it for a second, then moves his attention back to his brother's face, that stupid, unnerving grin. He's caught between wanting to smack his own face or grabbing his brother by his shoulders and shaking him senseless.

"Your arm is  _ broken," _ he says instead. There are a thousand different things he wants to say, to chastise Adrien for, but that is all that comes out. Apparently Felix's brain is only capable of stating the obvious when he's unsure of what to do.

It's not a question, but Adrien nods anyway. 

"Yep." That's all there is to this situation. Of all the things to reply with, really.

He inhales sharply. "Why are you here and not in the hospital then?!" 

Adrien laughs, an empty and humourless sound. "Well, I lost my phone in the mess and didn't want to make you worry, and- this akuma didn't exactly? Interact with the citizens that much? I can't really claim to be hurt during the fight-"

"You could say you fell down the stairs while trying to escape the akuma."

"That's-" Adrien pauses, considers for a bit, "yeah. I guess I could." And Felix shakes his head, because his brother is a goodhearted  _ idiot _ and he's both exasperated and glad with this fact. Mostly the first, because if Adrien keeps on getting into trouble because of it—

"Look, just- stay here for a second. Let me change and we'll see what to do later," says Felix calmly.  _ Be chill, _ he tells himself in his head for the whole time, but he thinks he might be screaming in there.

He quickly grabs a set of spare clothes from Adrien's locker and rushes off to change.

He returns to see a particularly melancholic image of Adrien sitting on the bench in the evening sun, quietly studying his arm.

It makes his heart ache a little.

"Hey," greets Felix, reaching a hand out to ruffle Adrien's hair. He immediately brightens up at the gesture, turns around to beam at his brother like a happy kitten.

"Hey," he greets back, not as cheery as his usual standards but more than an injured person should be. His bag sits next to him, clearly packed with a great effort. Felix's eye twitches at the sight - his brother could have easily waited for him to come and pack instead of trying to do so himself. He could have done more damage-

_Okay, stopping there,_ _Felix._ _Put a stop to those thoughts. No use thinking about them now._

"I didn't hurt myself packing the bag," Adrien tells him. He raises an eyebrow.

"I didn't even say anything."

"You didn't have to. I know what you're thinking, silly."

He doesn't reply, just nods, feeling a little numb and uncertain. This is a situation he's never been in and he doesn't like it at all, no - just looking at Adrien's arm makes him feel icky. And it's not like he couldn't stand the sight of blood or injuries either, but-

"It's okay."

He blinks. 

"What?"

Adrien smiles. "It's okay to feel anxious, you know. I'm okay. Well, I  _ will  _ be okay. We're gonna go to the hospital and get this treated. Then we'll go home." He stops there and turns to look at Felix, looking so earnest Felix thinks he might cry. "Okay?"

"Okay," he manages. Somehow his voice hasn't cracked. He considers that a victory. A small one, but he's working on it. Okay, okay, okay. He's strong.  _ You're strong,  _ he tells himself in his head. When it doesn't feel as effective as he'd like for it to be, he adds,  _ for Adrien. _

"I'm surprised," he says with a small, tired voice. "She didn't make you go with her?"

This is another one of the secrets kept between the Agreste twins, the hushed discussions of a nameless  _ her.  _ Her, as in Adrien's secret best friend, as Adrien likes to call her (“That sounds cool, don’t you think?”), and superhero partner Ladybug, the only other person who knows Adrien's secret. Felix has spoken to her once exactly, when she came to his school to evacuate the students during an akuma attack. She'd looked him in the eye and told him to try and stay safe, and he still doesn't know if she'd known back then, that he's the brother of her partner. She probably did now, at least.

Adrien’s expression shifts. Now it’s that face which is a fine combination of fondness and exasperation, a rare expression to see on him. He groans. "She did. She kinda panicked a little back there and I think she was going to take me to the hospital herself? I told her I was fine."

Felix frowns. "And she just let you walk away like this?"

Adrien gives him a flat stare.

"You  _ know _ how stubborn she can be, Felix. Of course not. She brought me straight to the roof of our school. I almost thought she was going to come in and tell you my situation herself, y'know?"

"Okay. Let's get you some treatment."

"Thanks, bro."

"Save that for next time," he says, a small smile sneaking into his face despite everything. Ideally there won't be a next time at all, but he knows better than to expect something as unrealistic as that. Sure, he wishes his brother didn't have such a dangerous lifestyle; but it makes him happy, and really, that's all that truly matters. 

Felix will do what it takes to protect that happiness.

..

Days pass. Felix continues going to school without Adrien, which suddenly makes his day a lot more quieter than it usually turns out. Some of Adrien's friends come and ask about his condition, which is like, the only major difference aside from Adrien’s absence, but that's about it. Claude Haprele and Allan Mercier hang around and pester him most of break time, but only in the way they usually do. Allegra waves at him in the hallways, and he wonders when will they get back on speaking terms, as in actually trying to rid of the awkwardness and going up to start a real conversation like normal friends, if they ever will at all, and…

It's all the same. Well, barring- Adrien, of course. He doesn't know why he expected anything different, knowing his lack of a constant and stable social circle, but...

"Well, it  _ can  _ change if you want it to, Felix," Adrien tells him with that small, knowing smile on his face he usually has when he knows something better than Felix does. They're in their shared room, Adrien sprawled across the bed with his phone in his uninjured hand, Felix at the computer desk typing out his paper that's due in two days. He grimaces, knowing what's coming next in this conversation. "You should go out with them! I can take care of myself, y'know."

"No," he says firmly. Just… no. He's never put himself out there for socializing and he's not about to start because his brother had broken his own arm. "Changes are not my thing and you know it."

"Ah. Then you're not going to like what I'm going to tell you next."

_ "What?" _ he asks cautiously. This is not going where he thought it was.

"I have a… favor, I wanna ask."

He seems almost… troubled, as he says this. Unusual, considering Adrien is pretty used to asking for favors from him. Taking over for fencing class, chinese lessons, photo shoots… The list goes on.

"What is it?"

"You see, with this," he gestures to the cast on his arm, "I'm not really in the state to fight, y'know…"

It clicks in his head. He cannot believe how he forgot about this one crucial detail.

"Oh  _ no _ . You're not asking me to-"

Adrien grins sheepishly as he continues.

"And Chat Noir is, kinda important to this city, wouldn't you say so?"

_ "No!" _ hisses Felix, immediately regretting his words at the sight of his brother’s face dropping, "yes, but-"

"But really, can you bear to let her do the job alone? I mean, Felix-"

"I'm not a fighter. I would be more of a hindrance than a help, honestly."

"That's not for you to decide. Besides, I think you're good!"

"I-"

He's cut off by another voice.

"Or do you think you're not capable of wielding me, kid?"

He scowls. Of course.  _ Of course. _

Now suspended above his pillow is his brother's tiny black cat kwami. The kwami sticks his tongue out at Felix.

"Plagg, you're not supposed to come out-"

Felix crosses his hands. "I don't need any input from  _ you. _ "

The little thing sticks out his tongue; it is unknown whether he’s directing that towards Felix or Adrien. "Just sayin'. LB's a capable one, but it's been getting more and more dangerous lately and leaving her to take care of things on her own-"

"Alright, stop trying to guilt trip me."

"-might be a little too mean of you, kid."

"I'm  _ seventeen _ ."

"And I am at least  _ ten thousand _ years older than you,  _ kid,  _ try again."

"I thought you said you're-"

"Just trying to make a point here, Adrien. I've basically been around since the beginning of time."

Felix sighs. Plagg makes a  _ tsk _ sound at him. He glares at the kwami, then turns back to Adrien.

Of course, Adrien chooses to pull out That Face now. Really, it’s moments like these that make Felix think that maybe his brother is really just a devil in disguise.

“Please?” he asks, looking equal parts sad and hopeful. And Felix gives up, because that’s how it works, how it’s always going to be. One day he is definitely going to regret all of this, but he doesn’t really care for now.

It wouldn’t be that bad, he tries to reason . He could just take over for a bit, maybe explain things to Ladybug. She’d understand. Hell, she  _ knows _ about this. She knew about Adrien’s injury before he did. That makes things simpler. Then he would try to stay out of her way as best he could, do as she asks. Maybe he would need to act more like Adrien just in case, although he knows for a fact they try to keep out of the spotlight. It would be easy - he has experience, and Adrien usually tells him a lot about his adventures. It wouldn’t be the same, but Chat Noir is ultimately still Adrien. He could pull this off. Adrien’s injury would heal in no time, and then he could hand the ring back and be done with this business.

He grits his teeth. “One month?”

“One month,” confirms Adrien. And then he’s pulling his ring off and handing it to Felix. He stares, and takes it and slips it onto his own finger. It feels… strange, having something on his hand like that. He turns his head and catches sight of himself in the nearby mirror, tries to picture himself as Chat Noir.

What a sight it’ll be. He hasn’t even seen it yet and he already couldn’t shake the feeling that it’s going to look like a hot mess, and not the good kind.

“You’re going to be awesome,” says Adrien brightly. He grimaces. Not that he wouldn’t like things to go smoothly, but events in his life tend to prove that he just has natural bad luck. But he takes a deep breath and tries to grin back at his brother anyway.

This is going to be an  _ experience.  _

_.. _

  
  



End file.
